Human Sanctification Project
The Human Sanctification Project (Gauvajut: Pernas Pangarišuppis Antuhhalli, PPŠA)-- which was initiated by Prime Minister Suwelli -- was an attempt to eliminate various undesirable traits from the genome of the Gauvajut Empire's people. These traits ranged from cancer, to stammering, clumsiness, and (in the founders' views) autism and non-heterosexuality, using technology salvaged from the machinery of the Twelfth Galactic Empire. Those undesirable traits were expanded to include hostile ideologies to make the people more docile and obedient to the Gauvajut emperors and their gods. Motives According to the advocates of the HSP, diversity in human beings was the result of countless attempts of human genetics to adapt to different environments. However, since many attempts resulted in various disorders and disabilities, there has to be some way to harness and manipulate genetics to ensure those harmful traits will never exist again in all humans, born and unborn. This would be done to make life easier for everyone in the Empire, if not for all living people, ending in "a global utopia free from any illness or flaw". Types of "Sanctified" humans Neo-humans (Newantuhhes, Pahsanuwanes) The original HSP humans, these people were the result of severe genetic and mental modification to remove any suspected "defect" from their bodies. As a result, they were healthier, stronger, beautiful, and more intelligent than their fellow Gauvajuts; but more obedient, docile, and being heteronormative towards themselves. They are known as "Neo-humans", or "Newantuhhes" (or "Neahtes") in Gauvajut; another name used for them was Pahsanuwanes ("Protected Ones the Gods"). In the Gauvajut Empire and many of its allies, the Newantuhhes mutants were celebrated as "holy people who love the gods, and are beloved by the gods in return". However, the enemies of the empire, including Red Ardesch, revile them as "freaks of nature that spoil humanity's progress". Abstinents (Abstas/Naspaijes) and Vatgrowns (Dukkaparkes) Another variant of the HSP altered humans to an extent that it made sex -- and anything to do with it -- less appealing to those affected. Reasons for this variant's usage include depictions of sex as "disgusting and vulgar", to discouraging people from aborting embryos (as abortion is considered a waste in Gauvajut culture). Although its supporters claimed that it was meant to divert humanity towards higher pursuits, pressure from conservatives forced the directors of the HSP to compromise from becoming absolutely asexual. The resulting humans -- the modified ones and their offspring -- were known as "Abstinents", and in Gauvajut, they were known as "Nas-paitakkes" or "Naspaijes" (Abstas, "the sex/lust-less ones"). In this variant, the altered humans decide whether to reproduce their children via marriage, and only with their spouse; or to stay single and "donate" their reproductive cells to produce more members, until they decide to marry or remain celibate upon reaching mid-life. They were less sexually-active than other humans, but also more intelligent and fertile (so they do not need to have sex more often to produce more offspring). These volunteers and their offspring mostly lived in communities away from the general public. They were allowed to move and live anywhere within the empire as long as they wore a tracking chip, and a government license was needed in order to marry an Abstinent. How these communities of Abstinents treated their offspring produced without sex, known as "vatgrowns", differentiated some from the rest: but children produced by sexual intercourse were always regarded as citizens under Gauvajut law. Nonetheless, those children were altered to make themselves less interested in sex or nudity. Their name in Gauvajut was "Dukka-parkes" ("Tube-grown Ones"). The first group, the Asshijanes (Aššijanes, "Beloved"), were known for treating the vatgrowns as equals, to be adopted by any family within their communities. These adopted vatgrowns were given citizenship, and were allowed to marry other Abstinents of the same age and opposite sex, or with pure humans. The second group, the Palsaies ("Multiplied"), were known for reducing vatgrowns into slaves who worked alongside convicts. Palsailli vatgrowns were less intelligent and more obedient, although they were stronger to make them work harder. To avoid overpopulation (or any violation of religious norms), they only produced vatgrowns every few decades, when a couple consented and decided to produce several children, or when the empire needs more workers and soldiers to replace lost manpower. Any attempts to produce vatgrowns in any other time was illegal, and any offspring produced from such attempts became property of the government. Regardless of the results, many prominent scientists, artists, and warriors of the empire's later history were Naspaijes. "Failures" (Pesshijanes) This project (and hundreds of others before it in other countries) was not possible without scores of failed attempts. Some altered people decayed and died within days or weeks; others were driven insane by their broken minds; and still others became more like beasts. Some of them were volunteers, while most of the others were criminals and other "undesirables" within the empire or banished from its neighbours. These people were known as "Pesshijanes" (Peššijanes, "Rejects") or "Purpures" ("Dirts"). These victims became one of the reasons why many people opposed the HSP, as they feared that it might kill and destroy more people as "failures". Legacy As some advocates instead turned it into an attempt to impose a hive mind upon the Gauvajut people and their neighbours (depriving them of any free will), the later rulers of the empire banned the project, forcing its members into hiding. Angered by the erasure of non-heterosexuality and diversity in that project, the authorities of Red Ardesch decided that the "New Humans/Nejantuhhes" (people who were genetically modified by that project) were to be killed to stop their traits from spreading into the Ardeschi peoples. In spite of its suppression and prohibition, the project of those "new Humans" was a partial success: their intermarriage with other people resulted in lower sexual drives in the Gauvajut people and some other races, diverting their focus towards achieving higher intelligence. However, Gauvajuts lament that project as making their people less like warriors, leading to their decline and subjugation under the First Vozonid Empire. Some people who were descended from the New Humans not only had more intelligence and sharper brains, but also stronger resistance against diseases. However, they are not as creative as normal humans. In a more twisted way, the Wannaenid Empire continued the HSP, but also expanded it to alter their human bodies and metabolisms into a more stronger form -- faster; tougher; more resistant to disease and aging; and most importantly, immortal. However, its modification to turn the Wannaenids into a nation of brutal warriors had also made them more aggressive and bad-tempered, so many of them would not make it beyond their twentieth year without getting killed in any fit of rage. Trivia * The HSP was inspired by the author's own disappointment over his own failures, his wishes to make himself more "perfect", and his observations on the motives of discrimination (such as religious homophobia). * The machinery of the Twelfth Galactic Empire was used by the Juretorij (another alien race) to suppress unacceptable traits, turning them into a nation of forced smiles and twisted laughter. * The methods used to produce the vatgrowns were used by earlier human and alien empires to quickly populate and colonise parts of the Galaxy with obedient subjects and slaves. Category:Mutants Category:Dystopias Category:Sixteenth Age Category:Clones